Who doesn’t love a good storyteller? I can sit entranced for hours thanks to the storytellers behind books like The Poisonwood Bible, The Book Thief and yes, even Can You Keep a Secret? I can also sit and listen to my husband for hours as he tells stories from his childhood or even better, the rated R movie I was too scared to see myself. He is a great storyteller.

My mom reading books to Madison (now 14) and Lauren (now 12).

…
Me? Not so much. Once in a while I can bust out a good story like the one about how we went from non-pet people to dog people almost overnight. But for the most part, my storytelling could use some help. My kids ask me to tell stories all the time and I always defer to their father (due in part to my very “normal” childhood) or their older sister who can weave stories like they’re going out of style.

That’s why I’m super excited to attend the Story@Home conference sponsored by CherishBound and FamilySearch. The conference has three tracks: Blogging, Storytelling and FamilySearch (family history). Though I’d love to attend the Blogging track, I’m actually thinking the Storytelling track would be a great way to exercise my creative side…and maybe lead to better writing on my site.

No matter how you tell your stories – through your family history, at your child’s bedside, on your blog, or from a stage – your stories matter. Join us for a conference that will change the way you see your stories and the world, and help you connect in new ways with those you cherish most.

Workshops and performances by award-winning storytellers, performers and speakers, will help you explore ways to use the power of story in your home. You’ll be able to record your own story, start on some research to learn more about your family’s history, get started on a blog and learn how to tell your story through social media.

I’ve seen the agenda and it is full of phenomenal speakers and workshop presenters. We’re talking C Jane Kendrick, Rustin Banks of BlogFrog, Rachael Herrscher of Today’s Mama, Heather Madder and even our very own Tauni Everett. And I’ve heard from a pretty good source (that would be me) that our very own Sassies Kim and Lindsey will be hosting a special box lunch keynote during the Blogging track. (You better believe I’ll be hopping over from Storytelling to be there for that!)

I have my ticket already, how about you? At $79 (meals not included but coupons/discount cards will be in attendee goody bags) for the two-day conference, it’s a total steal. And it’s in downtown Salt Lake City—that’s right in your own backyard! If you’d like to make it an overnight getaway, the conference has secured a special room rate at The Plaza Hotel downtown; rooms are only $79 a night! SLUMBER PARTY!

I’d hurry and register. Seating is limited and the conference may sell out before a winner of the giveaway is announced. If you purchase a ticket and then win, you will be issued a refund for your ticket price.

SassyScoops is giving away one (1) full-conference pass to Story@Home!

To enter, leave a comment telling us which track you’d most like to attend.

For extra entries, do any of the following. Each counts as an additional entry. Please leave a separate comment for each one you do.

~ “Like” Story@Home on Facebook.
~ “Like” SassyScoops on Facebook.
~ Follow @SassyScoops on Twitter.
~ Tweet about this giveaway with @SassyScoops in your tweet.
~ Update your Facebook status with a link to this giveaway.

Giveaway ends Monday, January 30th at midnight.

All SassyScoops winners are notified via email.

P.S. For another chance to win, head over to Not Just a Housewife where our friend Stacy is giving away a full-conference pass as well!
P.S. Story@Home is offering a Sweetheart Special. Everyone who registers by February 14th will be entered into a drawing. The winner will receive 2 tickets (one refund for her and a ticket for someone she loves). LOVE that!

Because we took a little vacay during the holidays, our recap of our Halloween girls’ night out is a bit overdue, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a super fun evening full of good food, games, prizes, new friends and a tour of Jordan Valley Medical Center’s new Breast Care Center.

We loved hosting a Halloween party and seeing everyone arrive in costume. I don’t think we saw any repetitive outfits in the entire group!

And of course there was plenty of partying to go around. (We like it that way!)

We were all exhausted by night’s end (some of us more than others).

We have lots of fun photos from that evening, including shots of the great appetizers the Breast Care Center provided for our little shindig. You can view them all and get some costume ideas for 2012 here.

As for the Breast Care Center, I don’t know that our guests knew what to expect when it came to the short presentation by Dr. Jane Porretta, medical director at the center, but her presentation was awesome. She spent just a few minutes helping all of us “think pink” (October is Breast Cancer Awareness month) and talked about the signs of breast cancer in thirty-something year-old women and the importance of early detection.

Believe you me, that early detection is super important.

Many of the ladies went on a tour of the new Breast Care Center at Jordan Valley, which truly is amazing.

I was able to tour it in June and wrote a post about my experience including photos to try and show off its spa-like atmosphere (an important aspect of the center). My favorite part of it all? Having a nurse advocate who works with you and the doctors. It sort of streamlines everything. And that’s another awesome thing about the center: seriously reduced wait time on tests.

You can get a behind-the-scenes look at the center and read more info about it in my original post on isthisREALLYmylife.com.

Can you tell we had a really, really good time. It didn’t hurt we had some fabulous prizes: Sweet Tooth Fairy cupcakes and cake bites, Utah Truffles gift baskets, jars of delicious candy and even a gift card from Fotofly for one of their new outdoor sessions.

Oh, how we love to party!

Now the Sassies are back from their holiday break and already have some great local business reviews for SassyScoops.com. Next week we’ll feature One Sweet Slice, a new bakery in South Jordan. It was divine. DIVINE.

Wishing you a wonderful 2012!

For our Fall Girls Night Out we are having a Halloween Party!

Let us start off by saying there are only 50 spots so if you would like to come you will need to secure a spot by emailing Vanessa at inevergrewup at gmail dot com.

If you want more information on it and want to secure a spot please let us know! And if you are attending you can adorn your beautiful blog with any of these graphics:

Shall be spook-tacular. What could be better than supporting breast cancer, attending a Halloween costume party, socializing for hours and free food & drinks?

Remember secure your spot today by emailing Vanessa at inevergrewup at gmail dot com!

I’m a ginormous fan of fitness and exercise (probably because I’m a ginormous fan of eating lots of good food—and by “good” I mean “greasy and delicious”). I got into sprint triathlons last summer and have quickly become addicted to yoga and Pilates thanks to our local rec center.

One thing I don’t love, even after one marathon and two half marathons, is running. I’ve never enjoyed it, probably because I’ve trained badly in the past and am not very good at it. That’s why I’m super excited to tell you about a new retreat for runners of all levels, even mediocre runners who would rather swim a mile than run a mile (that would be me).

The Run Like a Girl retreat will take place at the Zermatt Resort in Midway from August 11-13 (the main part of the event is Friday and Saturday). Here’s a bit about the event:

This year, our women’s-only running retreat will be hosted by the Zermatt Resort in Midway, Utah. Nestled in the mountains, it provides a sweet escape from the bustle of everyday life with ideal routes for runners. Participants will learn to train smarter at the feet of local running elite. You’ll walk (or run) away with a personal regimen designed to help you take your fitness to the next level. Then you can put your learning to the test by running the race on Saturday! Whether you have just started running, or you have been running for years, this event is for ALL skill levels!

You can choose to attend the full weekend or just participate in the run Saturday morning. So. Much. Fun! Here’s a sample schedule:

Thursday
3:00-6:00 – Check-In
8:00 – Evening run/jog

Friday
7:00 – Pilates or Fun Run
9:00 – Seminar
9:45 – Success Story
10:00 – Seminar
10:30 – Zumba!
11:00 — Seminar
12:00 – Lunch
1:30 – Keynote Speaker
2:30 – Shoe fitting/Gate analysis
4:30 – Jog/Run

Saturday
7:00 – RLAG 10K Start
7:15 – RLAG 5K Start

Registration for the full Run Like a Girl retreat (does NOT include lodging) is $175 and includes entry into Saturday morning’s women’s-only 5k or 10k. It also includes:

• Access to all day event Friday & Saturday.
• Opportunity to learn from the best on how to increase performance.
• Training on how to run faster and more efficiently.
• Group runs during the day Friday.
• Entry to 5k or 10k race (plus race t-shirt).
• Free entry into the yoga, Pilates, and Zumba classes.
• Retreat T-shirt (Totally stylish! You’ll have a hard time NOT wearing this around!)
• Snacks & one meal during the event.
• Run Like a Girl charm.
• KILLER swag bag.
• Most importantly, a girls’ weekend out doing what you love with friends!

…
RLAG has negotiated some discounted prices for lodging during the event. You can find info on discounted rates on their event website.

I AM SO GOING TO BE THERE and already have plans to room with my friend Lori. (Yay for fun roommates!) I would so love to see other “sassy” ladies there—who’s with me?!?!

I know one of you will be running with me because Run Like a Girl is giving away a full event pass to one lucky SassyScoops.com reader! YAY!

To be eligible for this giveaway, leave a comment telling us your favorite way to exercise. Is it running? Swimming? Spin class? Or is chasing after your kids exercise enough?

Additional entries:

1 entry ~ “Like” Run Like a Girl Retreat and leave a comment telling us you did.

1 entry ~ Follow @SassyScoops on Twitter and leave a comment telling us you did.

1 entry ~ “Like” SassyScoops on Facebook and leave a comment telling us you did.

1 entry ~ Tweet about this giveaway with @SassyScoops and a link to this post and leave a comment with a link to your tweet.

1 entry ~ Update your Facebook status with a link to this giveaway and leave a comment telling us you did.

Giveaway ends Friday, July 22nd, at midnight.

All SassyScoops winners are notified via email.

We had such fun in May at our Spring Girls’ Night Out! We wanted to give a big thank you to:

Pamela from Tom & Lucy’s Art Shoppe for hosting us. We hope everyone picked up some goodies from the boutique and learned about her wonderful vendors.

Troy from Da Hot Dog King for bringing his hot dogs for all of us to enjoy!

YOU! Thank you for coming! We met lots of bloggers, social media ladies and locals. We saw some gals come with their girlfriends for a fun night out and others arrive ready to meet some new people and make some new friends.

If you are looking for pictures from the evening, we have many more loaded to our FLICKR stream.

We are taking off for the summer but will back with reviews in the fall. Until then, look for a second helping of our past reviews!

Have a wonderful (and safe) summer!

Tom and Lucy’s Art Shoppe is so thrilled to be offering a $40 gift card to its Spring Handmade Boutique. The Art Shoppe is hosting its fifth shoppe and with over 30 unique and local vendors selling their products and designs, you’re sure to find something you’ll love. Local vendors all across the beehive state will be selling jewelry, candy and sweets, home decor, toys and games, soaps and lotions, clothing, pillows, vintage, chic accessories and anything else to tickle your fancy! Tom and Lucy can’t wait for you to come a pick out something wonderful for spring.

As you have heard we are co-hosting our Spring Girl’s Night Out with Tom & Lucy’s Art Shoppe and we can’t wait to see you there:

Although our girls’ night out is only one evening, you should mark your calendars for the WHOLE weekend the boutique is open: May 19th, 20th and 21st at the Ivory Ridge Swim and Tennis Club in Lehi, Utah. You can find directions to the location and more details on the Shoppe on their blog: www.tomandlucysartshoppe.com

Tom & Lucy’s Art Shoppe is giving one of *YOU* the chance to win a $40 Gift Card to the Boutique!

To enter this giveaway, leave a comment below saying what vendors you would love to check out when you go!

Additional entries:

~ “Like” Tom & Lucy’s on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tom-and-Lucys-Art-Shoppe/125592601408

~ Follow @artshoppeutah on Twitter

~ Join their mailing list (right hand column on their site/blog)

~ Follow Tom & Lucy’s Art Shoppe blog

That is a total of 5 chances to win! $40 Gift Card will need to be picked up the weekend of the Art Shoppe and used on any of the 3 days the shoppe is open (Thursday, Friday or Saturday).

Giveaway ends Wednesday, May 18th.

Thanksgiving Point is EXTENDING their annual Tulip Festival to May 7th and they want to give *YOU* the chance to go! Thanksgiving Point is giving away a family4-pack of passes to one lucky reader! By extending the Tulip Festival a full extra week now we ALL can enjoy the 250,000-plus tulips sprawled across its 55-acre gardens.

An added celebratory closing event will be held Saturday, May 7, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. with a Tulip Princess Tea Party hosted by the winners of the April 15 Tulip Princess Pageant. The Tea Party will serve lemonade and cookies to visitors and is included with the gardens entry admission. The event will also feature a mini fashion show with tulip-inspired outfits and kids games. RSVPs are appreciated at publicevents2@thanksgivingpoint.org or (801) 766-5018.

In addition to the colorful blooms, Thanksgiving Point’s Tulip Festival will include music from local bands, bagpipers and string quartets, craft vendors and food every Friday and Saturday including the extended weekend of May 6-7. Other family-fun activities will take place throughout the festival:

• Old Dutch Store’s Dutch Day will be held on Saturday, April 23, with Idlewild and the Accords performing authentic Dutch tunes and celebrating the Holland experience.
• Guest photo contest will be judged by Thanksgiving Point Facebook fans. The winning photo will be published in the Thanksgiving Point Gazette and the winner will receive an annual membership to Thanksgiving Point.
• An exhibit featuring photo contest entries and winners from 2010 will be on display throughout the festival.
• Daily garden tours and demonstrations are included with admission.

Thanksgiving Point Tulip Festival is included with regular Gardens admission. Hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday-Saturday, through May 7. Entrance is $10 for adults, $9 for seniors, $6 for children aged 3-12 and free for Thanksgiving Point members and children under 2 years. Tickets can be purchased at the Thanksgiving Point Gardens, over the phone at(801) 768-4900, or online at thanksgivingpoint.org.

NOW for the part you have been waiting for . . . the GIVEAWAY!

ONE lucky SassyScoops.com reader is going to win a family 4-pack of passes to Thanksgiving Point’s Tulip Festival!

Entering is super easy. Just leave a comment on this post!

You can earn EXTRA entries too:

1 entry ~ “Like” Sassy Scoops on Facebook and leave a comment telling us you did.

1 entry ~ Tweet about this giveaway and leave a comment with a link to your tweet.

1 entry ~ Update your Facebook status with a link to this giveaway and leave a comment telling us you did.

3 entries ~ Blog about this giveaway and include a link to your post.

Happy entering! This giveaway will end on Saturday, April 30th at midnight MST.

All SassyScoop giveaway winners are notified via email.

In one month we will be having our SassyScoops.com Girls’ Night Out! Yes, it is a *FREE* event and there will be tons of giveaways, live music, food vendors and fun. It is in the perfect spot: right smack dab in the middle of Utah County & Salt Lake County off of the Highland/Alpine exit.

Let us tell you a bit more about who we are partnering with this time. It’s the Tom & Lucy’s Art Shoppe, a boutique filled with wonderful Utah vendors. This year the 2011 Spring Art Shoppe is being held May 19th, 20th and 21st (Thursday, Friday and Saturday).

Thursday: May 19th 1:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Friday: May 20th 9:30 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Saturday: May 21st 9:30a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

The exact address of the Ivory Ridge Country Club where the boutique AND Girls’ Night Out will be held is 32 East Clubview Lane in Lehi, Utah.

In a couple weeks we will be back to tell you all about the wonderful giveaways AND host a giveaway for a gift card to spend at Tom & Lucy’s Art Shoppe. Stay tuned!

Check out our sidebar—we have a new sponsor! We extend a warm welcome to Battlecreek Boutique, SassyScoops.com newest sponsor and would love to tell you a bit more about this Utah County boutique.

Utah has always loved its boutiques and craft shows. Battlecreek was the FIRST boutique in Utah County and has been around for 31 years! I remember going years and years ago with my mom—it might have started my love (and obsession) with all the craft shows in the area.

The Battlecreek Boutique has shows three times a year in the Spring, Fall and Winter. All of them are location at the Pleasant Grove Recreation Center. Lucky for us, their Spring show is just around the corner:

Spring Splendor

April 28 – 30, 2011

Thursday & Friday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Pleasant Grove Rec Center
41 East 200 South
Pleasant Grove, Utah

http://battlecreekboutique.com/

They have over 55 crafters who sell everything: home decor, clothes, goodies, baby items, books, jewelry and everything in between. Be sure to check it out!

Be sure to “Like” them on Facebook to keep up on all their news! http://www.facebook.com/pages/Battlecreek-Boutique/116503611696318

This week the Sassies are going to take you into the wonderful world of catering.  Not just your run-of-the-mill, average catering but Italian pizza catering.  I KNOW, right?

Surefire Pizza is a catering business like no other. Jeffrey and Melissa Whitehead have taken his idea for a mobile, wood-fired oven and turned it into a delicious way for you to cater your next event.  Surefire Pizza isn’t your $5 Friday night pizza.  It is authentic Italian pizza. The kind you would be glad to serve your colleagues, guests or neighbors at a block party.  Jeffrey even trained under a master pizzaoilo from Naples, Italy. Melissa, having a degree in pastry arts, took to the challenge of creating the perfect pizza dough. The proof is in the pudding, I mean the crust.

Surefire Pizza brings the “pizza party” to your next event. Receptions, corporate events, and company summer parties are just a few of the perfect places to serve gourmet pizza. Your guests will be treated to an experience versus just a meal. They can watch as their food is handcrafted before their eyes. And then delight in eating the finished product.

Surefire Pizza is all about the pizza. But they have more to excite the guests at your next event.  Appetizers, salads, Italian sodas and desserts are just some of the additions you can add to your catering experience.

Come back Wednesday to see if the Sassies thought this catering company was hotter than a spicy meatball!

But since I know you can’t wait to book your pizza event extraordinaire, we won’t leave you without all the details how:

www.surefirepizza.com
www.twitter.com/surefirepizza
www.facebook.com/surefirepizza

And of course you can pick up the phone and reach Surefire Pizza at 801 938-FIRE (3473)